Demus: The Prince And The Milkman

Spiderweb Cracks

"Excuse me," Jan murmured from the window, stroking a single finger down Disi's back, making the dragon coo. "Excuse me, but are you going to tell me your name? It's getting a bit tiring to just think of you as the 'milk-boy' all the time."

He smiled at Jan. "Oh, sure! I'm Remus Mottle, your highness Prince Deceit," he said, taking a deep bow. "Pleasure."

Jan gave a short little laugh. "Oh, do call me Janus or Jan, no 'Prince' anything. I've been locked up here, I'm the farthest thing from a royal now. And the pleasure is all mine," he responded, smiling. "Anyway, I'll leave you to your thoughts again."

"Thank you," Remus laughed. "That will be nice."

Five minutes passed in silence, with Remus sitting on the ground and taking the occasional sip of his water, and Jan sitting on the windowpane, body curled to fit snugly in the round circle of bricks and mortar. 

After a few more minutes, in which Jan's patience wore out, Jan sat up. "Have you come up with anything, Remus?" he asked, tapping the glass to get Remus's attention. 

Remus's head snapped up. "Oh! Um, well, there's one idea. Do you have a cracked window anywhere?"

Jan nodded, looking around for the window. His gaze fell on it, placed in the kitchen. It had obviously been cracked several times, as someone could tell from the mess of spiderwebbed cracks. 

"Yeah, one of the knights came and tried to break a window. He got about halfway through before I scared the horse with a red banner and it ran off blindly. I dunno what happened to them, though. Why?"

"Can you lead me to it?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Alright." Remus pulled his sack over his shoulder again and smiled. "Let's go!"

Jan gave Disi a quick pat, for the dragon was becoming a bit restless and was nipping at Jan's boots. "For the third time, why?"

"I'll explain later," Remus responded, his eyes glittering. "Now show me!"

Jan gave him a nervous, confused smile. "Okay...?"

The prince led the milkman around the tower, which was quite large, containing a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, a bathroom, and a shower room with several baths that were somehow always stocked with various scents and lotions. 

"Alright, so here we are," Jan said, stopping at the cracked window. A brick had fallen out, but was too small for the milk to fit, so that wasn't an option. "What, in the name of heaven, are you going to do, though?"

Remus took a deep breath. "Does your dragon breathe fire?" he questioned, glancing at Disi, who flicked out a gold-bronze tongue. 

Jan shook his head exasperatedly. "No, just frost--"

"Perfect!" Remus cried, clapping his hands together with a grin. "Can you get him to breathe on the window? It'll all work, I promise."

Jan tilted his head, bewildered. "...sure, but why?"

Remus looked at Jan with pity. "You never learned much science, did you? When you freeze something..." 

Disi let out a thin stream of snowflakes, which quickly spread throughout the window. It filled the cracks, wrapping the glass in a blanket of frost. Jan watched in wonder. 

Remus continued. "If you freeze it, making it brittle, you can do this!" He raised a hand and hit the glass hard. "It'll splinter-- watch out, your highness!"

The glass shattered, pieces going everywhere. Some fell onto the floor, some landed on Janus's dark gold jacket, and others sprinkled on the outside grass. Janus shrieked, jumping back just in time to avoid most of the dust. It didn't work completely, though. He coughed from the dust as Disi took cover behind Jan's boots. 

"What in bloody hell was that, Remus?!" Janus yelled. "What did you just do?" He looked up, incredulous, then his gaze flickered to the broken glass pieces on the floor, then back to the boy standing there, an apologetic grin on his face. "That was dangerous!"

Remus sighed. "I know, I know, sorry. But at least now I can give you your milk, right?" He reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of white liquid, frothing slightly at the top. "Here you go, enjoy."

Jan took the bottle hesitantly, then opened it. "Is it... going to poison me?" he asked carefully, looking into the opening. 

Remus laughed. "Of course not, Prince Janus! Are you barking mad? It's just cow milk!"

"...okay," Jan said, still unsure. He took a small sip. 

It was cool and sweet. The first time he'd had milk, or any drink except for water, in years. Seven years, to be exact. And while it wasn't exactly like what he had imagined-- slightly more watery and much less creamy-- it was still startling, the ways it was different and the ways it was the same. 

He paused. Took another drink. And sat down, still thinking. 

"Are you alright, Prince Janus?" Remus asked worriedly. "You seem to be... transfixed. Have you eaten anything sour, like cottage cheese with a cookie?"

Jan looked at him incredulously. "Are you stupid? Who would eat something like that? A madman, that's who."

Disi let out an approving chirp. 

Remus sighed. "Well, you seem slightly out of it, your highness."

"Stop with the formal stuff," Jan reprimanded him. "I told you, it's Janus, not your highness."

"Sorry, your-- I mean, Janus."

"Thank you. No, I am not transfixed, I'm just... thinking about some stuff. I haven't had milk in a while," Jan admitted.

Remus grinned. "Happy to oblige! Now, what are we going to do about this window?"